


The Cat Crept In and Out Again

by megyal



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Animal Transformation, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-01-15
Updated: 2007-01-15
Packaged: 2017-10-11 14:19:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/113301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/megyal/pseuds/megyal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Notes:: Written for a challenge-prompt by krisxd, who wanted a kitty!Harry fic.<br/>Beta:: The lovely mirrorwakes. A few changes were made after it was beta'd. Any mistakes are mine.</p>
    </blockquote>





	The Cat Crept In and Out Again

**Author's Note:**

> Notes:: Written for a challenge-prompt by krisxd, who wanted a kitty!Harry fic.  
> Beta:: The lovely mirrorwakes. A few changes were made after it was beta'd. Any mistakes are mine.

_I said a-hey you guys, look who's awaitin' outside.  
And then the cat crept in and crept out again  
The cat crept in and crept out again   
-The Cat Crept In_, Mud

"Right," Professor Lupin said in his low, scratchy voice. "Concentrate, Harry. Just clear your mind--"

"--think of being a _stag_ like your father, Harry, how cool would that _be_\--"

"--and focus all your energy into one point--"

"Harry, are you _listening_ to Professor Lupin, because this is important--"

"--and will you two kindly BE SILENT?!" Professor Lupin glared at Hermione and Ron; this was such an unusual expression on his face that the two shrank into the corner from which they were stage-whispering at Harry. He sighed, closed his eyes as Harry made a face at his chagrined friends and started again.

"Good. Harry? Ready to try again?"

Harry grinned. "I was _born_ ready, Professor. Let's do this."

It was Lupin's turn to make a face, for in that moment, Harry's resemblance to James had taken a turn from _close_ to _eerie_. It was weird and not a little dismaying.

"Close your eyes, then. Breathe slowly." He threw a warning glance behind his shoulder and was gratified to see Hermione plaster her hand over Ron's mouth. "Clear your mind, Harry. Breathe in... breathe out. Think of a large, open, white space." He waited until Harry's breathing had slowed down and the nervous twitching in Harry's left leg had disappeared completely. He had been adamant in his refusal to teach Harry to be an Animagus, but Dumbledore had asked politely from his portrait and Remus was quite a sucker for good manners. Harry was almost seventeen anyway, of age to be registered; besides, he would need all the skills he could possibly learn to defeat Voldemort.

"Alright," Remus said, as Harry's shoulders relaxed completely; his head relaxed right against the seat and his mouth hung open slightly. "Picture an animal, Harry. Do you see one in the middle of that white space?"

"Yes," Harry said in a low, sleepy voice. He didn't even twitch when the door to the smallest living room at Grimmauld Place was pushed ajar and Draco Malfoy walked in, dressed in a pair of Harry's pyjamas and scrubbing at his face with a hand that was slim and scarred. Ron frowned at him impatiently but motioned him to a seat; Remus felt a little proud of young Weasley. There were times when he and Malfoy got into verbal wrestling matches that grated on everyone's nerves, but he had stood firm behind Harry's arguments as the dark-haired teen had insisted that Malfoy, with his battered body and bruised mind, be allowed to stay after Severus had literally dumped him at the steps of the Black house. Dumbledore had politely insisted this as well; apparently Remus was not the only one to fall for a simple _please_. Especially when everyone saw how Harry gave Draco long desperation-tinged looks.

"Reach out for that animal, Harry. Touch it. Let your fingers push _through_ it."

Harry began to make a small rumbling noise deep in his throat. Ron and Hermione cocked their heads simultaneously, trying to figure out where they'd heard that sound before. _Funny_, Ron thought, _I'm sure stags don't make_ that _sound_.

Draco wasn't the only one with his eyes narrowed, although he was fairly sure that he _was_ the only one who got hard when Harry raised his hand and rubbed his nose and the corner of his cheekbone right along his wrist and fingers. The movement was slow and sensual and Harry was still making that low rumbling sound, strong and contented. Draco shifted on the small wooden bench Ron had relegated him to, plucking at the front of his pyjamas. Then again, after being subjected to Harry's undivided attention and care for the past couple of weeks he found it easy to get hard over _anything_ Harry did; but this was still sort of hot.

"Step into that animal, Harry. Wear its skin."

There was a slow melting of Harry's frame; they leaned forward eagerly and Ron let out a cry that was simultaneously disappointed and elated.

"A _cat_?! Man, that's... nice. I wanted a stag, though. Ow!"

Hermione removed her fingers from where they had caught Ron's forearm in a harsh pinch, bestowing a smile on the black cat sitting primly on the armchair where Harry had been not five seconds earlier. The cat regarded them all coolly, large yellow eyes showing a lining of jade around the slitted irises, long white whiskers escaping out of his face. Harry-cat had a lovely coat that was not quite short, yet nowhere near long, with a white bib under his neck; his two front paws were also white.

"How _cute_," Hermione breathed and Harry-cat regarded her with feline affront.

"Quite," Draco said, crossing his legs. This was getting quite ridiculous, because it was a little bit gross for a human being to find a cat hot. That was bestiality, wasn't it? And Malfoys didn't _do_ bestiality -- that was so not _on_... well, his great-great-grand-uncle Louis Malfoy had once had a thing for goats, but that was such a long time ago, really.

"Well done, Harry!" Remus stepped closer to the chair, but the cat in it flinched back, hissing at the approaching werewolf. "Er, well. Change back, Harry, it's just the same as the way you went in. Just think of the animal-form and slip _out_ of his skin. There's a good lad."

Harry-cat just stared at him, long black tail bristling with fear and anger. Remus took one careful giant step back and flicked a worried glance towards the remaining three teenagers.

"Hmm. This is... a development."

"What?" Hermione cried, leaping up and running towards the cat, which immediately jumped onto the arm of the chair and arched its back threateningly. She came up short, giving the little animal a wary look as it bared its teeth at her. "Professor, what did he do wrong?"

Remus squeezed at the bridge of his nose with a tired thumb and forefinger, rubbing at the spot while Ron reached for the sleek black cat and was swiped at with all claws unsheathed. "I'm afraid that Harry did it too _right_, Miss Granger. He went all the way into his animal form. It's going to be a hell of a time getting him back out."

"He's a little spitfire in this form, isn't he?" Ron said in a low mutter, as Harry-cat stared them down challengingly. Draco sighed.

"You're not going about it properly, Weasley. He's a bit wild -- Potter's always been that way, and if you keep rushing him like the dunderhead you are he'll probably scratch your eyes out." Draco conjured up a long piece of sturdy cord as Ron gave him a withering look, and crumpled up a bit of stray parchment, knotting the end of the cord around it. He dropped the parchment to the floor, and tugged on his end of the string so that the bit of paper danced.

Harry-cat looked highly interested. As the paper skittered across the floor he watched it intently, then jumped down and began to stalk it. The long, lithe body went still as Draco made the small ball of paper shudder on the hardwood floor; there was a black blur and Harry was upon his new toy, but Draco pulled it away, up in the air and Harry stood on his back legs to bat at it.

"Damn it," Remus said softly and Hermione gazed at him with alarm. "This calls for a bit of _research_." Hermione's face shifted into unfiltered joy and Ron looked resigned. Harry ignored them in favour of the dancing paper ball. "Draco, watch him. Don't let him catch any mice; I think it will cement him more in that form. As a matter of fact…" and here Remus twitched his wand; a slim silver collar appeared about Harry-cat's neck. "That will make him stay inside the wards of the house. Alright now, who's up for some reading?"

Hermione almost put her hand up eagerly but Ron held it against her side.

***

Draco was quite surprised when, apparently finished with his game of Chase-The-Parchment, the black cat jumped into his lap. Draco had moved from the bench to the large comfortable armchair, which was rather fortunate because Harry had massaged at his legs through the thin material of the nightclothes – claws and all ("Ouch, Potter! _Fuck_!"), then turned in a large circle and tucked into a warm heap on Draco's lap. Draco put a tentative hand on the cosy form, starting to pet through the soft fur, and gave a tiny smile at Harry's content purring.

"I had a cat once, a Russian Blue," Draco said softly, and Harry-cat's ears twitched. "I called her Willacy. She was so prim; I swear she thought she was human." Draco stroked along the length of Harry's back. Harry unwrapped himself and turned over; paws high in the air and Draco laughed a little, the sound rusty in his throat. He had not laughed in a long time, he mused, rubbing the soft little belly. Then again, he was _just_ starting to use his voice again, after being hexed in the throat by his Aunt Bellatrix. Failing the Dark Lord came with astronomically awful consequences. He felt as if they had crushed Draco Malfoy out of existence with their torture and this new person sitting here with the Cat-Who-Was-Nearly-Asleep was unknown and unknowable -- a soft new entity that had no place anywhere.

"My father got rid of her one day. He said I was getting too attached. He told me he gave her away to another family... I didn't believe him, though."

Harry's eyes slit open and regarded him. Draco put his other hand over these eyes and Harry wriggled in playful protest.

"I didn't believe a lot of things he told me after that," Draco said, removing his hands. Harry-cat gave him a baleful look at their sudden absence and rolled over, leaping smoothly to the floor. He rubbed around Draco's legs, startling him into another unpractised laugh.

"That's what Willacy used to do when she was hungry... let's see if we can find some tuna in that awful kitchen, alright?"

***

Lupin, Hermione and Ron found Draco sitting at the dining table with Harry on the wooden surface in front of him; Harry was eating off one of the precious Black plates. They dumped a small mountain of books in front of Draco.

"Bad news and bad news," Lupin said, sitting down. The black cat stopped eating and looked at him pointedly; the werewolf gave an aggrieved huff and moved a seat away. Harry started to eat again. "Evidently werewolves and werecats don't get along."

"That's what Harry is now," Ron put in, in case Draco had been conveniently daft ten seconds before. "A werecat. Someone who's stuck that way for awhile, with their minds mostly _catty_."

"And he'll fluctuate in between forms until he's learnt to stabilize them both," Granger said, her head still poked deep into one musty book. "According to _Rudiments and Theory of Animagi Transformation_, the cat-form can be highly difficult to pull out of. No-one is quite sure why." She pulled her head out and regarded Harry, who was presently licking his right paw with deep delicacy. "We talked to Professor McGonagall and she said it's because 'Potter needs to learn more control.'" Ron grimaced as Hermione gave a surprisingly good rendition of Professor McGonagall's shrill tones.

"When will we know he's stabilised?" Ron asked, reaching out a hand to pet Harry's head and looking elated as the cat allowed him this time, if only for a few seconds, as he ducked his head away and jumped off the table to sniff curiously around the long dark curtains.

"When he's able to shift back and forth under his own will. _God_, Harry," Hermione sighed at the cat, who was currently midway between the floor and the ceiling, clambering rapidly up the curtains. "Can't you do anything _normally_?"

***

Draco had tried to lock Harry out of the small room they'dd given him when he first arrived at this damp depressing house, but Harry had meowed continuously at the door until Draco flung himself out of bed and wrenched the door open.

"Come in, then," he snapped, and Harry took such a long time to slink inside that Draco nearly slammed the door on his tail in annoyance. He clambered back into bed and felt the light weight of Harry-cat settle against his chest.

"In any shape, you're quite annoying," Draco murmured, stroking along Harry's furry side, feeling the soothing rumble of his purrs.

***

Draco awoke to Harry stretching luxuriously beside him. A Harry in _human_ form.

He was currently on his hands and knees, his arms flat against the bed, bottom wriggling in the air and Draco tried not to salivate. He wondered what Harry would say if he pulled the flat of his hand all along that enticing back, hidden below the large shirt Harry had been in last night, to rest on the delicious curve of his arse in those jeans. _Maybe Harry might purr_, he thought, but before he could do anything, Harry slid out of the bed and padded noiselessly out the door. Draco waited a few moments, watching the slight grey of the morning lighten in increments, then stood up as quickly as he could (his head used to spin a few weeks ago) and hurried to the kitchen.

"Potter?" he whispered, pushing open the swinging door to see Harry pouring milk into a shallow cereal bowl. "Potter, what are you doing?"

Harry didn't answer; instead, his eyes flicked slyly up to Draco, who was taken aback to see the same yellow and green orbs that the cat had possessed last night, including the slim black irises; Draco also noted that the silver collar was still on. Harry rubbed at it with the round of his shoulder, rolling it around his neck. Draco was relieved that Lupin had thought to charm it last night, so that any sudden shape-shifting wouldn't choke Harry.

Harry returned that unsettling gaze to his bowl of milk. He sat in front of it, looking at the cool white liquid with a loving eye. He leaned forward and gave it a long slow lap.

_Right_, Draco thought as Harry drank his milk. _Right, time for bed again, because my head keeps spinning_.

Harry's body went into that strange meltdown once again and the black cat lapped at its milk carefully; Draco staggered back to his room.

***

"So I keep shifting back and forth?" Harry said, the cat-ears on top of his head perking up. Lupin was inspecting them closely while Draco and Hermione drank soup; Ron was trying to decide if he was going to have a beef or tuna sandwich. Harry sniffed at the air as Ron finally popped open a can of tuna.

"Yes," Draco said, swirling bits of chicken in his soup. "It's a little aggravating, to tell the truth. You never come all the way back... and you go so far in you think you're all kitty. You meow too loudly, by the way."

"Ok, _what_?" Harry giggled a little, and licked the side of his hand. "I _meow_? Meow? _**Meow**_?"

"Bloody hell," Ron snapped as he suddenly found Harry-cat doing figure-eights around his legs, almost tripping him as he begged for tuna. "He _does_ meow too loudly."

***

"Come here, kitty-kitty," Draco crooned under the large elm-tree at the back of the property, which was tucked at the bottom of a gentle slope. He wrapped his arms around himself, cold in spite of the cheerful summer sun. Ron and Hermione had given up trying to coax Harry out of the first crook of the sturdy tree and went in for a short Order meeting. Draco was left frowning up at the stubborn black cat, whose tail was flicking insolently from side to side as Harry peered down at him.

"Is it that you can't come down or you won't?" Draco asked and Harry-cat looked away, blinking in pretended boredom. "Maybe you can't. I think I have an idea how that might feel, getting yourself in a spot and then not wanting to ask for help. Or not able to." He turned and leaned against the trunk of the tree, feeling the harsh bark rub against the web of scars on his back. He was wearing another shirt of Harry's today, a large grey one with DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS written across the front in white. He smoothed his hand across the peeling words and twisted his head to give the cat a searching glance.

"I... I suppose this is easier to say when you're in this form. I have to thank you. If it wasn't for you and your bloody dream-team, I don't think I would have lived. I'm here to help you, in any way I can, you know? Even brew up healing potions, I'm good at things like that."

There was only a long look from the black cat lazing in the tree and Draco sighed, looking back in front of himself.

"I don't know... we've both changed drastically. I've crept into myself and I don't think I want to leave, but there's so much to be done. Right now, they're up there wondering how to break you out of this, so that a war can be fought. You need to come out of there. I know it's been fun and it's been a break from being a target, but we can end this. We need to."

"I know," Harry said and dropped out of the tree like a large fleshy branch. "_Ow_."

Draco suddenly laughed as Harry gave him a disgruntled glare that changed into a half-hearted grin. He picked himself off the soft grassy ground and stretched. Draco felt the smile on his face become familiar; he felt the sun dapple through the leaves onto his pale skin and he felt something begin to rebuild inside himself. Something Malfoy... powered by Potter, probably.

Harry was tucking his chin in, trying to get a better view of the silver collar around his neck. He fiddled with it and Draco chuckled.

"Leave it for a bit. I think it looks a little sexy."

Harry glanced at him; then his eyes took on a Slytherin sheen.

"Pervert. Wait a minute, though." Harry pursed his lips and went into his cat-form. The little black feline approached Draco and rubbed against his legs, rumbling audibly; Draco found himself being pressed against the tree by Harry a few seconds later. "I knew you were all into bestiality. Think you can make me purr?"


End file.
